Several years ago I noticed a bump on my body. I began praying to see myself as God’s spiritual child, created “very good,” as stated in Genesis 1:31. I prayed with a conviction that an understanding of God heals, as countless accounts in the Bible and this periodical have illustrated. I also read Mary Baker Eddy: Christian Healer by Yvonne Caché von Fettweis and Robert Townsend Warneck, which is full of healings. And a Christian Science practitioner, who is an individual who devotes his or her life to praying for others who ask for Christian Science treatment, prayed with me. I felt very close to God, and the bump disappeared.
However, fear that it would return was always in my thought. A couple of years later it did, and became larger. I became very fearful and preoccupied with fears of what the problem might be. Within a few days, I was not able to do many things in my active life without discomfort. I put everything aside and turned to prayer to lift myself out of the mesmerism of fear.
In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy says: “Always begin your treatment by allaying the fear of patients. Silently reassure them as to their exemption from disease and danger. Watch the result of this simple rule of Christian Science, and you will find that it alleviates the symptoms of every disease. If you succeed in wholly removing the fear, your patient is healed” (pp. 411–412). That last sentence just popped out to me. I saw that by understanding why I could be free from fear, the fear would dissolve, and I would be healed.
This conviction was based on the fact that I am a spiritual idea created by Spirit, God, and that abnormality is not part of my true, spiritual selfhood. Any suggestion otherwise was a false belief. Also through prayer came a whole new understanding of my “family tree.” I saw that in reality there was no genealogy. Instead, all of us have a direct relationship to God. I could not inherit anything but spiritual perfection. In addition, I saw that this is true for everyone.
The fear began to dissolve, but the bump was still there. I listened to the audio versions of Science and Health and the Anthology of Classic Articles, a compilation of articles from the Journal and the Christian Science Sentinel, if I awoke at night. This was helpful in keeping my thinking clear and free from fear.
Over the next few days I prayed diligently with the weekly Christian Science Bible Lesson, Science and Health, and many of the articles in the Anthology. It was wonderful developing a solid conviction of the truth. I loved this time of study and growing clarity of thought. Increasingly unimpressed by the large bump, I was seeing myself as spiritual, not a material body needing healing.
Discouragement tried to creep in when it became uncomfortable to sit down. Was some evil power out to get me? No; I affirmed that evil is not a thing or a person, just a mirage with no mind behind it. God, good, is the only power. A Christian Science practitioner who was praying for me pointed out that not only am I a spiritual idea, but I already knew it, because God is the only Mind. I am not a mortal fending for myself, but God is always expressing Himself in me, and in all of us.
A breakthrough in my thought came while reading the story of when Christ Jesus thanked God before he fed the five thousand with a few loaves and fishes (see John 6:5–13). This encouraged me, and I was so sure healing would happen that I thanked God even before seeing outward signs of it. And I knew, without a doubt, that I would see the full healing quickly.
It got to the point, a few days after I’d begun praying, where I could get comfortable only when I lay flat on my back, and the pain was quite severe. So I prayed to eliminate the pain even if the bump was still there. But as I prayed, it occurred to me that the bump was no more created by God than the pain was, and neither was a part of me.
I held confidently to the fact that I was whole, even when the material senses were screaming the loudest, because I knew God is in complete control of His spiritual creation. Within minutes, the pain left and the bump drained completely. Totally free, I thanked God and the practitioner with tears of gladness. I immediately arose to make dinner for my daughter’s slumber party that night and returned to all my normal activities, including biking and swimming, in the following days. The healing was complete, and I have been free in the years since.
The understanding I gained through my prayer during those few days gave me the complete confidence that there is no more effective treatment than praying scientifically, with conviction. As sweet as this quick physical healing was, it can’t begin to compare with the song my heart is singing because I know that I can rely on our good God.
Truth Johnston
Beaverton, Oregon, US
